Nativa leader Natasha Pongonis today participated as a panel speaker during the Nationwide Insurance Hispanic Heritage Month event. Several of the topics discussed to a livestreamed audience across the nation were: hurricane relief, diversity, inclusion, communication tactics for the Hispanic market, and more. All of the four featured speakers shared their experiences as Latinas, business owners and how they’re helping influence and inspire the Hispanic community in Columbus, OH.

The goal of the company-wide event was to deliver rich conversation around the topic of inclusion by sharing stories of how each of the panelists has embraced their “own” diversity and unique gifts to achieve greater success (personally and professionally) while becoming champions of inclusion in the community.

Natasha reflected on her own experience being diverse in America, “I didn’t know what diversity was until I came to America. I have worked and studied in Argentina, Belgium, and Italy but I never had a “designation” other than being Argentinean. I was forced to be aware of my own race on five boxes on a form. Am I Caucasian/White? Or am I African American? Hispanic? Pacific Islander? Or was I “Other”?”

Natasha made several points on how companies may embrace diversity: • not blind to differences but embracing these differences • the opportunity to learn/collaborate with new perspectives • Diversity = Accepting everyone as they are, even when they don’t look or talk like everyone else • Diversity is respecting and valuing differences in each induvial that we encounter